Topic: AK/WASR 10-63 gunsmith?

[Hawkeye]

I've run a Rumanian SAR-1 AK semiauto variant for years with zero problems. Heck, a gun that ugly had better be reliable.

I recently purchased a Rumanian WASR 10-63 rifle. It came with a Tapco buttstock, fire control, and handguard with rail, and I added an Ultimak gas tube with upper rail.

The rifle does not go into battery about 40% of the time. I used the same ammunition and magazine with the SAR-1, and it ran perfectly, so I'm not inclined to blame those causes. The rifle has been very thoroughly cleaned and lubed. The chamber seems smooth. The rails appear properly aligned. A gunsmith has polished and relieved the bearing surfaces on the hammer and bolt carrier. Still no joy.

I've Googled this and looked over some of the common causes and either did not find them, or just wasn't smart enough to recognize them.

Can someone recommend a gunsmith in the Valley who is experienced and likes working with semi-auto AK's?  Many thanks.

[popsgunner]

Sean Tiffany at Zebra12 in nampa, 461-6911, he is the AK guru.

[HD-DVD]

It's common for a WASR bolt/carrier to hang on the hammer when you manually work the action. But it should chamber properly when actually firing rounds. The WASR I bought five years ago did it pretty bad but as the contacting surfaces wore smooth the issue began resolving itself - so you may want to put a couple hundred more rounds down the pipe and see if it helps. I notice that you said a gunsmith has looked at this issue though - still a couple hundred more rounds could clean up the problem.

Caveat: I'm assuming you're talking about normal WASR function. If there's a real problem then of course you'll want to see a competent gunsmith.

[Hawkeye]

Fixed this one myself. I installed a Wolff extra-power recoil spring and used some MolySlide on the hammer/bolt contact area and along the receiver rails.

The KEY thing seemed to be, the dust cover has an indentation near the back of the cutout for the charging handle travel. This is a friction fit on the bolt, and provides the marginal "bolt hold-open" you can note with an AK variant. I gently bent this out and away from the bolt and put a little MolySlide on the engagement surface. This left it where the bolt would stay back, but a gentle touch on the charging handle would let the bolt slip forward into battery.

The rifle ran perfectly at the range today.

[HD-DVD]

Glad to hear you fixed it. WASRs are a little rough but their kinks usually can be straightened out with a little thought.

That "bolt hold open feature" tends to go away in time. ... So keep your fingers out of there!

[holtz]

any one around boise modified the single stack mag reciever to accept a double stack mag and how did it function ?
for an ak.

[HD-DVD]

Well it can't be that hard if Century Arms can teach drunk monkeys how to do it! J/K 

[holtz]

My main concern is reliability and will it still feed with no jams or problems.

[HD-DVD]

Well if done right there will be no jams or issues. You do see variances where some magwells are pretty loose so magazines wobble around. My WASR was opened up by Century and they did an ok job, no feeding problems at all. In fact I had to lightly file in one area because some of my surplus mags fit too tight. I bet you can download a template from one of the AK sites.